Thomas motion seeks annual Tynwald debate on government policy priorities

Tynwald will be asked to require the new Council of Ministers to set out its policy priorities by the end of November, under a motion tabled by Douglas Central MHK Chris Thomas, Energy FM has reported.

Mr Thomas, one of two candidates for Chief Minister, wants the Council of Ministers to produce a document for debate setting out “current challenges and opportunities”. The motion is due to be debated at Tynwald’s sitting on 20 October.

Its second part calls for a “prioritised policy agenda, action plan and legislative programme to address them”. According to Energy FM, that programme would be updated annually and put before Tynwald every October for members to debate and approve.

Energy FM said this element of the motion appears to mark a return to the annual policy debate that was once a fixture of the parliamentary calendar.

In the early years of the Council of Ministers, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the government produced an annual Isle of Man Government Policy Report for Tynwald to debate and approve, the outlet reported.

Widely known as the “Poldoc”, it served as a blueprint for ministers’ plans for the year ahead and beyond. It became a political event comparable to the Budget, partly because it was originally published and debated in October, after the summer recess. It opened the parliamentary year and frequently prompted long and heated exchanges.

Energy FM said the document became less comprehensive over time.

More recently there has been an Island Plan, updated periodically, while individual departments have brought their own action plans to Tynwald.

The Island Plan, initially presented as a five-year road map, was first debated in February 2022. The government had sought a January debate. However, Tynwald members voted to delay it because the report had been added to a supplementary agenda after it was submitted too late for the usual agenda, according to Energy FM.

Revised versions were debated in January 2023, March 2024 and March 2025. The outlet reported that the plan was not debated at all in 2025-26, the last parliamentary year before the general election.

The island is expected to know who its next Chief Minister is by the time the motion comes before Tynwald on 20 October. Mr Thomas’s rival for the post is Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Kirrie Jenkins. The two candidates faced each other at a hustings before MHKs last week.

Energy FM noted that if Mr Thomas wins the vote for Chief Minister, he would not strictly need Tynwald’s backing to introduce such a policy document, as doing so would already fall within his powers. However, he might still seek approval so that the practice continues under future administrations.